Sunday, December 29, 2013

Hello there! Oh god, the past two months/years have sucked balls and I don't wanna talk about it right now.

Let's just set aside the entirety of 2013 and go ahead with the awesomesauce that is 2014, shall we?

And with that, instead of bemoaning how I failed at Kickstarter, let's instead focus on what I did right and, more importantly, what I learned from it.

1) Asking for help doesn't make me a tool.

That was the biggest, and first, lesson I had to learn. My closest friends and allies know how much I hate asking for help, and reaching out to others and getting them to help me by gettin' active doesn't make me the asshole...but it sure does show who's got who's back.

2) I shouldn't feel bad when others help.

Strangely enough, the one untalked about thing for me is seeing friends and family help out...and seeing them have to curse out those who don't do anythin'.

I got, like, a maximum of 85,000 freakin' eyes between a combination of friends, admins of big Facebook pages who wanted to help, and even the odd person who happened across the whole thing.

The worst feeling, though, is when said volunteers and helpers saw for themselves the people they invited and appeal to do absolutely nothing. It's like we both recognize that that just happened, that their people just let 'em down, y'know? I mean, how DOES one go about talking about it?

So instead I just shrug it off and reassure them that it's okay...and it is okay, y'know?

(For the record, of said admins or friends DO read this blog, then by all means - like I said, it's aight, y'know? I'm just happy you had my back when I called out).

Which leads me to...

3) I'm fairly certain I just unlocked a reach achievement.

So between big pages, friends, and volunteers I know for a fact I've reached out to a combination of 85k people, y'know? Sure very little occurred from it, but that happened, y'know?

It took me a month and a lot of hard work and stress, but oy. Can't complain with a number like that.

It took A HELLUVA LOTTA WORK, but I need to point out again - it really did show who had my back during that time, and there isn't a single person who let me down. I'm damn near tearful just thinkin' on it, and no - that ain't a joke.

4) Let go.

I've ALWAYS had a problem with this, and I'm fairly certain I've even talked about it here before in the past. I have a severe problem with just letting go, with letting bygones be bygones. I hold onto a grudge until the death of me, hating the target until it's time to take action.

As stated before, 85k people. I just need a grand to get things goin', that would be 85 times over the Kickstarter could've been funded. I mean, I've seen worse on Kickstarter funded for far more than that and with a higher target goal too.

On the other hand, I ain't mad. I can let it go, especially since I've got the Indiegogo on the backburner and ready to get the pledges to hopefully swap over to there and re-pledge. I'm ready for the Kickstarter to fail, and I'm ready to keep goin'.

And that leads me to somethin' else...

5) I shoulda gone with Indiegogo.

No, seriously. If I had known Kickstarter was all-or-nothing, I never would've gone for it. I would've gone for Indiegogo instead, which would've still paid out the 500 bucks this coming week, and I could've ordered the seed books with it.

Instead, I've gotta suck it up this January, eat nothing but ramen and go for it that way.

But hey, I'm also ready for that outcome.

For what it's worth, it's a lesson learned...and, looking back at it, sure it was stressful as fuck, especially just getting people motivated (beyond my first round of volunteers and friends) to pass on the messages and donate.

But.

85k, y'know? That's the most I've ever reached out to, and for good or for ill there's that at least.

I also built it up to $558, half of it from a particularly generous donator who believes in "The Generalist" series. Hell, ALL the donations and pledges and backers are pretty freakin' beloved in my heart, y'know? I came out of this knowing I got back-up, and that's the most important thing.

So, there we be, there we go. 2014's comin' on stronk, one way or another.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Thankfully I have a system that can keep up with me, I'm just currently incredibly busy and involved with a particular event.

Y'see, I just learned recently that Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing kinda affair. If I had known, I would've gone with Indiegogo from the get-go....BUT!

We live and learn! And besides, we're in at $251 outta the goal of $1000, so I'm at the point where it's just "Y'know what? Let's just get it all the way filled, I'm already in beyond the 1/4 point."

So yeah, I'm basically asking a dollar from each person who's involved, wants to be involved, or even have volunteered to pass my daily Faecbawks messages around.

It's kinda cool knowing I have so many people who have my back, and I'm giving away some absolutely wonderful rewards for all kinds of pledges, even the $1 ones. Hell, www.sofakingnews.com (where I've been submitting articles in Anime, Movies, and Music) is donating ad space to $10 pledges and more, with longer times (up to 2 weeks!) for bigger donations.

Here, check out the message yourself:DONATED ADSPACE AT SOFAKINGNEWS.COM

So we just got word that as of now, sofakingnews.com will give AD SPACE ON THEIR WEBSITE to match your donation!

About dem Featured Links

No rhyme or reason to it, these are just blogs that I read personally 'bout and want to bring to yer attention.

Now I can only have SO MANY links, y'knowwhatImean? On the link list...anyway, yeah. So I might actually make a page for past links, literally a long, detailed chronicle 'cuz there are SO MANY of you good motherfuckers to put on there.

So we'll see.

In the meantime, have you had a chance to check out the Featured Links? The current one, or the past ones?

Well, go check 'em out! 'S good shit, mang. And let 'em know that Mister The That Bastard From Bellingham sent ya.